House — medieval in Rathnew

House site described by Macalister and Praeger as the 'Eastern House' in centre of a conjoined enclosure excavated by Macalister and Praeger (1928), the results of which have been recently re-interpreted by Schot (2006). The conjoined enclosure is one of a cluster of monuments situated on the Hill of Uisneach. Nearby monuments include a mound barrow (WM024-173----) 200m to the N, an earthwork (WM024-068----) 390m to the SE, an embanked roadway annotated 'ancient road' (WM024-067----) runs onto the S side of the monument, a ringfort (WM024-063----) and holy well (WM024-60----) lie 390m to the SSW, an earthwork (WM024-065----) lies 290m to the W, a second earthwork (WM024-062---) 270m to the WNW, and a ritual pond known as Logh Lugh (WM024-064002-) 170m to the NW. The eastern house was described in 1928 as following: 'This was the most important structure. remaining within the enclosure (WM024-066----). On our first visit we saw an earthen ring about 44 feet [13.4m] in diameter, with indications of an entrance towards the east, and some suggestions of internal divisions in the form of faint ridges. The Eastern House Consists essentially of an area divided into a number of compartments and chambers, and contained within a more or less circular wall of earth, about 10 feet [3m] in thickness at the base, faced on one or both sides with dry-stone masonry. Without the circular area, on the southern side, there is an annexe of three chambers, approached through doorways in the surrounding wall of the main building (afterwards blocked up), as well as by means of a separate entrance. The main entrance to the structure is a passage 4 feet [1.2m] wide at its outer end, 3 feet [0.9m] wide at the sill by which it is closed internally. It projects 2' 8" [0.8m] outside the face of the surrounding wall. This projection has been made to carry out the door to near the circumference of a bank of gravelly earth and stones heaped up against the outer face of the surrounding wall, apparently at a later date. The doorway faces outward to the east. The passage is paved with flat slabs of irregular shape (some of which we raised and replaced, in the hope of finding threshold deposits, but without result). Just outside where the pavement begins there are two well marked post-holes for the door-posts: they are 3' 10" [1.16m] centre to centre, 1' 3" [0.38m] in diameter, 1' 5" [0.43m] deep. These dimensions may possibly have been slightly enlarged in the process of excavation. At 9' [2.7m] from the entrance there is a slab laid down over the paving stones, forming a step 8" [2.4m] high and 2' [0.6m] broad. This was apparently an afterthought, as the pavement runs underneath it. The entrance passage is bordered on the southern side with a series of slabs on edge, four in number; they are 9" [0.22m] in thickness and 2' 3" [0.68m] in maximum height. On the north side there are five ordinary building stones forming the lowest course of a wall of masonry; nearly all of the course next above has disappeared. The floor of the passage rises slightly from outside inward. Just behind the step mentioned above as being at the inner end of the entrance passage, there is a slab on edge, set with a slight slope inward, forming a sill. This is 2' 2" [0.66m] long and 8" [0.2m] broad, and it stands exposed to a height of just under 1' [0.3m]. Immediately behind this sill, on the inner side, there is a row of three stones, flattish on face, forming a step downward into the chamber into which the entrance passage gives access. The step has a tread of 1' [0.3m] and a rise of 7" [0.17m]. On the left hand side of a person entering building the row of slabs on edge, above mentioned, is returned at an approximate right angle, and runs southward for a length of 6' 9" [2.05m]. It seems improbable that these upturned slabs supported any stone superstructure; but they may well have been the revetment of an earthen wall. The peculiar L-shaped space shewn in the plan, of which they now form the eastern boundary, was emptied by us of its earth, but it did not form a chamber: in consequence it is not shaded as such in the plan. It is really the continuation of the circular boundary wall. The curved interior face on the eastern side is quite rough, and could never have been intended to be exposed; moreover, there is no apparent entrance to the U-shaped area, which, as it stands, measures 11 ft. 10 ins. [3.6m] north to south, by 6 ft. [1.8m] broad in its eastern limb and 4 ft. [1.2m] narrowing to 2 ft. 4 ins. [0.71m] broad in its southern limb. Nevertheless, the digging out of the earth was justified by its revelation of traces of a powerful fire underlying the foundation. The bed of ashes which represents it continued along the inside of the circumference northward for a total length of about 27' [8.22m], including the breadth of the entrance passage, and running under the foundation of the enclosing wall. Some kind of foundation rite seems to be indicated' (Macalister and Praeger 1928, 101-4). On the 1837 edition of the OS 6-inch map the monument is depicted as a large circular ringfort with D-shaped annexe on the E side of the ringfort. On this map a 'Cave' or souterrain is annotated and depicted in the centre of the ringfort, the E quadrant of the ringfort interior has been divided into two small areas defined by earthen banks which run off the N & E side of a rectangular shaped platform located in the S quadrant of the ringfort. This rectangular platform appears to be the foundations of a hut site. A second possible hut site is depicted in the centre of the W annexe on the 1837 edition of the OS 6-inch map. These earthworks are clearly visible on aerial photographs taken 09/07/1964 (CUCAP AJQ092/093/094), 12/07/1966 (CUCAP AOY072/073/074) and 11/07/1969 (CUCAP AYR014/015/016). See attached plan of site taken from Schot 2006 after Macalister and Praeger 1928 Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 13 August 2019